The platform profits by charging a 3 percent service fee on all exchanges. To put users at ease, all transactions are managed through the online payment platform of tech giant Sina. According to the app, an average month sees users trade 300 to 400 million yuan ($45-60 million) in seconds of celebrities’ time.

The market is primarily driven by China’s growing fan economy: Every second bought can be cashed in for celebrity interactions. One second gets you one line in a text-based chat, while voice or video calls cost a minimum of 600 seconds. Those hoping to meet the celebrity in person must redeem a minimum of 7,200 seconds.

The app’s homepage displays a counter showing how many celebrity seconds have been spent: 3.19 million at the time of writing. Beneath, featured celebrities entice users to buy their time.

该应用程序主页上有一个计数器，上面显示目前已被消费的名人时间为319万秒。下面展示了一些名人，来吸引用户购买他们的时间。

More than 500 celebrities appear on the platform, including actors, show hosts, music producers, entrepreneurs, athletes, and even a professional player of popular video game “League of Legends”. You can buy time from an Olympic speed skater, which you can redeem for skating lessons, or from celebrity entrepreneurs and investors offering business consultations.

Zhang Yuan, lead singer of the Mandopop boy band “Top Combine”, offers seconds that can be redeemed for a personalized recording to be used as a ring tone or alarm. One grateful comment reads, “My little sister is super happy, thank you, kind Zhang Yuan!”

Business-savvy users can also opt to trade their celebrity seconds in an open exchange. Similar to a stock market, the value of each celebrity’s seconds fluctuates. Trading hours are set from Monday to Saturday.

有经济头脑的用户还可以在开放的交易平台上买卖他们的名人时间。和股票市场类似，每个名人的时间价值都是波动的。交易时间为周一至周六。

“秒啊”平台的名人时间价格也有涨跌停板，最高涨跌幅可达100%。

It is the trading function that has raised questions among legal experts.

正是这项交易功能遭到了法律专家的质疑。

On Tuesday, The Paper, reported that despite having government approval as an app, Miao A harbors financial risks and technical bugs.

澎湃新闻21日报道称，尽管“秒啊”作为一款应用程序具有政府许可，但其存在金融风险和技术缺陷。

Liu Xinyu, an attorney at Dentons Law Offices in Shanghai, told The Paper that despite the platform’s bold claims, “time” is not a commodity that can be traded, and the app violates regulations for stock exchanges.

The Paper also found that most celebrities’ seconds follow the same pattern: On the day they’re issued, they increase in value rapidly from their initial price, before hitting a peak and dropping back down to their starting price. Most then remain fairly stable.